


I Come with Knives

by SpookySheep



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Assassin!Yang, Cat Burglar!Blake, Cat Burglar!Sun, Drugs, F/F, Fight Club Boss!Weiss, Gang Boss!Neptune, Guns, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Knives, M/M, Mostly Everyone Is Queer, Needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:31:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2492867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookySheep/pseuds/SpookySheep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The city of Vale is ripe with crime.</p><p>Criminals of all kinds run the streets of the big city, looking for a shiny piece of jewelry to make a quick buck or hiding on rooftops to take out their newest target. Gangs cover almost every section of the city and hiring thugs is as easy as a trip to the supermarket. Beacon, a bar located in the heart of downtown seems to be the only place where the cities criminal population can relax with a whiskey and not have to watch for bullets. But even the seemingly peaceful bar holds it's secrets.</p><p>Sun Wukong is a cat burglar, specializing in infiltration. He's given an unusual mark, a weapon of some kind which he doesn't think much of until his friend, Scarlet, mentions it's located in the base of a new gang called Titans. Not much is known of Titans besides that the leader goes by the name Neptune. He turns out to be a real pain in the ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Come with Knives

**Author's Note:**

> READ!  
> Instead of waiting until the whole fic was finished I've decided to post this in two parts since classes started up and have sucked almost all my free time for writing (not to mention the toll it has on creative juices, ugh). I'm very sorry for this but I hope you enjoy the first half!

Sun Wukong was the best at what he did. It was cause for some tension in his organization, being as young as he was. Some of the older, 'more experienced', thieves didn't particularly like having a punk-ass seventeen year old show them up at every turn. Sun's mouth didn't build him any bridges either, his cheek had gotten him in more than one fight in the past. Even though he could handle himself he usually ended up with a black eye or busted lip, sometimes worse. The only friend he seemed to have in this shit hole was a guy named Scarlet. Even though they're the closest of buds now, their relationship was rocky at best when they first met. 

When Scarlet joined Nocturnal, Sun had been pretty low level. He cleaned floors more than he was sent on jobs and the jobs he did do paid shit.

The faunus was relaxing in the rec room when the boss came in to show a new recruit around base, and by the look of her Sun doubted she'd be working scams. Way too memorable with the facial tattoos and bright red hair. The boss ended the tour and left her to her own devices, wishing her luck. 

"Hey sweet cakes, pass me a beer will ya?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, "Get one yourself, I'm not your bitch."

"You have a pretty deep voice for a girl."

"That's because I'm not a girl."

"Curve of your ass says different."

Before Sun could raise his arms in defense Scarlet had crossed the room in the blink of an eye and punched him in the face, knocking him off his chair onto the ground. After that day he had no trouble referring to the man correctly. After a few weeks of working in close quarters with him the man slowly grew to like Sun, especially when he showed the proper amount of respect. As they became more trusting of each other Sun learned of Scarlets transition and stuck up for him if he wasn't around to do it himself. That was two years ago. Now the two were, excuse the pun, thick as thieves. Scarlet stayed at the base most of the time, working as a fence for the group. When Sun would get back from his now high profile jobs, he'd go straight to Scarlet to do business and end up staying with him all day.

When one of the higher ups came looking for Sun to send him out that's exactly where he was.

His new mission was a high security break in, not much different from the other wall of jobs he'd been assigned. There was one noticeable difference though, the mark was some kind of weapon. Nocturnal never had jobs other than jewelry or expensive equipment, things easy to turn over. There was the occasional painting or safe full of cash to collect, but never a weapon. It must have been requested from a buyer. Sun accepted the job after listening to the details and slid off the table he was perched on. 

"You sure you can get in and out of gang house with no problems?" Scarlet asked.

"Gang house? The mark's in a warehouse on 5th."

"South 5th, I recognize the address and it's Titans' territory."

"Titan... Never heard of 'em."

"No, Titans, with an s. I wouldn't expect you to, if your head isn't on a job it's up your ass." Sun flipped him the bird which he ignored, "To be fair, they are pretty new, only been around three months or so."

"What, are you an informant now? If you wanna play informant at least give me something useful Scar."

"Yeah right. I would never be able to compete with Jaune, if I even tried Pyrrha would have my head. And I don't know much about them other than they've already started shit with White Fang. Roman's been pissing all over the tables at Beacon about stolen turf. If you're serious about getting extra info and being careful for once head over there, Glynda might tell you something if you ask nicely."

Sun scoffed but nodded. He could play nice if he really wanted to, most of the time he just didn't see it as necessary. Being annoying was so much more fun. He spun and headed for the door, calling a goodbye as he walked out.

\- - -

Sun could count the number of times he's been to Beacon on two hands, half of them ended in a fight and the other half ended in him getting kicked out before one could start. The bar was smack dab in the middle of the city and run by an old guy called Ozpin. Glynda was the bar tender, but on busy nights an attractive blonde named Yang would help out. Sun had been dragged by the fiery girl more than once and even though she acts all high and mighty around him, he knows she finds his wit charming.

There was a weird sense of cease fire while in Beacon. Gang members, thieves, hired thugs, criminals of all kinds came to the bar to unwind and there was never an all out war while there. Glynda made sure peace was kept for the most part, and when things got really bad Yang would whip everyone back into place. The woman was tough as nails and took no shit.

Sun scanned the place for familiar faces when he walked in and, seeing no one he knew, headed to the counter where he spotted Yang straightening bottles. 

"Hello beautiful, is Glynda around?"

"She's off for the night actually." Yang picked up a shot glass and started cleaning it, "I'm more than capable of serving you booze,  _your highness_."

"Not booze I'm after  _cupcake_ ," Their conversations always seemed to turn into a sarcastic pet name pissing contest, "I need information on a certain gang that's sprung up in the last few months."

"Oh? Sounds like mr. full-of-himself is asking for help. What'd you get yourself into this time?"

"Nothing yet, don't worry your pretty little head, pumpkin. I heard Roman was in here bitching about Titians, were you working by chance?"

"Hah. He's in here every other day it feels like, how could I miss it? You don't give a damn about Roman though, do you? Just what he's been screaming."

"Who says blonde girls are stupid? You figured that out all on your own- Ow!"

"Don't be an unnecessary pain in my ass kid."

"Don't hit my ear you bitch, some of these piercings are new!"

"My mistake, I was aiming for your dick and my blonde girl brain must have gotten confused. They're shockingly similar in size."

Sun growled but let it slide in favor of information. "Are you gonna tell me about the Titans or not?"

"You've been entertaining so why not. Torchwick was going red in the face cursing some guy named Neptune. The way he was going on I got the impression he was the leader. He called him a 'blue-haired prick' and said he was 'going to feed that son of a bitch his cheap red jacket'. That should help you identify him."

"Anything else?"

"Nah. He started throwing martini glasses at the wall so I threw him out."

"Thanks sugar, I'll see you soon."

"Oh please. Hurry back. I can hardly live without your smug face lighting up the room."

"Love you too babe."

\- - -

Sun could sense something off about the warehouse as soon as he reached the iron gate. Scarlet was right. Instead of the empty but well secured building (he was lead to believe his mark was in), this place had obviously been used recently and often. Sun kept up his casual stroll passed the iron gate, waiting until he was behind the cover of the brick wall that surrounded the warehouse before he broke into a run. He made a left turn, following the wall until he was well away from the street. It was devoid of any prying eyes, but he didn't get this far in his career by being careless. When he found a good spot he jumped using his right foot to push up off the wall, giving him the extra height needed to reach the top. He pulled himself up and crouched. 

He took this time to pull out his mask and buckle it around the back of his head. It wasn't very decorative, nothing more than a shaped piece of thin black leather that formed over his nose and mouth. Sometimes, no matter how careful he'd been, someone catches sight of him on a job. After the last time nearly got him hunted down and killed by the Vale police force, he got one made by a girl he knew and wore it ever since. When matched with the hood on his brown jacket, his features stayed pretty secret. He kept the material around his neck for now, he was about to exert himself and didn't need the hindrance to his air supply.  

Sun took in the area on the inside of the wall. The place looked halfway to becoming a junkyard... Old styrofoam cups from connivence stores rolled around every time a breeze would come by. DVDs, posters, scrap metal, you name it, piled in the corners. A shitty truck with peeled paint was parked in the middle of the yard by the gate. Sun wasn't sure if it even ran at this point in it's pitiful looking life. He turned his attention upward, straining his neck a little to see the roof. The warehouse was four stories high, windows evenly spaced out on every floor. He wished they weren't boarded shut from the inside or too grimy to see through. He'd love to get a feel for the set up inside. The ledges under them weren't very wide but Sun thought he'd be able to use them. The air conditioning units would definitely come in handy. Horizontal pipes could be seen poking out of the brick far to the right of him between the third and forth floors, but the wall he was using right now curved to meet the building just a couple feet from him. If he could just get to the pipes he could climb them to the top.

He jumped the five foot gap between the wall he rested on to the window ledge, landing on his toes. Thank the Gods he had a tail, without the extra help in balance this would be near impossible. He climbed his way up to the window directly above him and carefully shimmied from ledge to ledge until he reached the end of the row where an air conditioner stuck partway out of the last window. Sun used the extra width as a platform to hop off and reach the window above, easily climbing another floor.

The edge of the pipes were roughly four feet away from the window he clung to. Sun glanced down and sighed, nothing but hard packed dirt and the occasional broken glass bottle laid beneath him. If he fell from this high he'd get a broken arm, if he were lucky.

The faunus took a deep breath and focused, mustering up all his strength, and leaped.

Sun's fingers grazed by the edge of the nearest pipe and he grabbed on, grip as hard as the metal in his hand. His feet scrambled at the brick until his rubber soles gained traction and he pushed himself up and onto the pipes. While sitting against the wall, Sun took a few minutes to stop and catch his breath. His nerves were on edge but he'd be okay after a short rest.  _  
_

After Sun collected himself he shifted into a crouch and followed the pipes around the corner to the back of the building. Three windows away they shot up to the roof, he'd easily be able to shimmy up them. 

Before he continued his ascent, something caught his attention. The middle window hadn't been boarded up, the glass was even clean as if it had been taken care of regularly. Sun slowly and silently edged his way closer to the window and when he was close enough, leaned forward to peak in. What he saw came as a surprise.

The room on the other side wasn't large, but it wasn't too small either. The walls were dressed in expensive looking dark red wallpaper and the floors were polished dark wood. A bed with a black comforter was pushed to the corner of the room farthest from the door. A wooden desk was situated right in front of the window, facing the door. A comfortable looking creme couch was pushed against the far wall and a large bookcase filled with books of different size and color was placed to the right of it; a matching lounge chair shared a wall with the bed on the other side of that. He had expected the inside of the warehouse to be as big of a dump as the outside was, not look like it was furnished by an upper middle class family. 

A gleam caught his eye and he turned his attention back to the desk. He could barely make out a square shaped chunk of metal lodged under the right side drawer. If that's what he thought it was then his job would be far easier than he thought. Sun brought his mask up over his nose and donned his hood, effectively hiding his most prominent features. He reached behind him and unzipped his sling backpack, fishing around until he found his little tool kit. He had everything needed to commit break ins in this thing. 

After grabbing the circle glass cutter, he pressed the suction cup right above where the lock on the inside was and cut the circle in the window. Sun pulled the tool off and replaced it in his pack, picking up a small glass cutter. He quickly cut two curved lines facing each other inside the circle and tapped at them to crack the glass. Then he cut lines diagonally in-between the two curves, going to the right first then making a grid by going left over them. He tapped away at the grid until the glass diamonds cracked loose and the whole inside of the circle fell away, leaving a neat clean cut in the window. Sun wasted no time reaching in, flicking the lock over and pulling the window open from the outside. 

Sun ducked in the opening, expertly avoiding the broken glass, in one fluid movement, and bent down to pull the object out from under the desk. Only, it was stuck. The thief moved around to the side of the desk to try from a different angle, and when that failed he moved to the front.

"Fuck me..." Sun pulled and rattled it around but the thing wouldn't be unlodged from its place. He was wasting valuable time, if anyone was nearby they were sure to have heard the glass being tampered with and come investigate. Even if everyone happened to be on the first floor in some kind of weird gang family meeting there was no telling when someone would come up. Sun didn't like taking advantage of luck when his ass was on the line.

He spent a few more precious seconds pushing and pulling at the object until, a number of choice swears later, it finally came free. The sudden lack of tension knocked him off balance and he stumbled until his back hit... 

A body? 

Sun spun his head around and looked a very confused, very angry man in the eye. _'Shit'._

Clutching the metal box in both hands Sun tried to make a break toward the window but was stopped by a hand gripping his shoulder like a vice. The man pulled Sun back and threw him against the nearest wall, his hood falling down at the action. Before he had a chance to replace the air that had been knocked from his lungs, a hand wrapped around his throat. Sun instinctively dropped the metal box and brought his hands up to grab at the arm pinning him to the wall.

"Who are you? Why the fuck are you in my room?" 

Sun was starting to get light headed at the lack of oxygen. Did this stupid fucker expect him to answer with a hand baring down on his windpipe?

The man used his free hand to pull down Sun's mask, his eyes flicking over his uncovered face, and slackened his grip. Just enough so Sun could gasp for air and fill his lungs on the blessed sweet substance, but not break free. 

With oxygen enriching the blood to his brain Sun was able to take in the man that looked about two minutes away from killing him. His eyes quickly roamed the figure in front of him saving every detail to memory. White dress shirt and black tie snug under a red jacket. Gloved hands. Probably more buckles than strictly necessary. Yellow tinted goggles. A light blue bandana around his tan neck, and the hair to match. So this was Neptune. 

"Who sent you to steal this?" Neptune tightened his grip for just a second, growling his next sentence "I'm running out of patience thief."

"I-I don't know," Sun struggled to get words out of his abused throat, "We were commissioned, my organization. The buyers are kept anonymous to us." 

"What's your organization?" 

"Heh," It came out a cough more than a scoff, "Wouldn't you like to know." The words had barely left Suns lips before he, as best he could in this position, doubled over from a punch to the gut.

**"I'm not fucking around."**

Sun looked up at the man through his lashes. He struggled to work past the pain and pull himself together but the man had a mean left hook. He wondered if the guy ever used brass knuckles, he could inflict some serious damage.

It was of course, Sun's lucky day. Most days seemed to be.

A dark man with spiky green hair entered the room in a hurried stride. He stopped and took in the scene he barged in on but quickly recovered, speaking to Neptune.

"Boss, White Fang are gathered outside the gate. There are about fifty of them and they're trying to break in. Roman requests you come out personally."

"Understood," Neptune never broke his glare away from the thief he had in his grasp, "Round everyone in base, I'll be down with Cronos as soon as I can."

"Yes boss." The man took one last look at Sun and left the room.

Silence stretched on after the man exited, broken only by Sun panting for breath. "I should kill you. But I need information more than you trouble me. Tell you what, I won't feed you your teeth if you agree to be compliant."

Sun kept Neptune's gaze for a time, then nodded his head once.

When Neptune released his grip on Sun's throat he slumped against the wall, all strength and tension leaving his muscles at once. Sun rubbed at his neck and watched as the gang leader picked up the rectangular metal box and slung it over his back where it clicked into place. 

"Follow me." 

Instead of going out the door as Sun had thought, Neptune walked toward the bed in the corner. He had agreed to cooperate, for now, but he was still on guard when he took measured steps to the man. Once he got within arms reach Neptune grabbed his arm and pulling it toward him, the rest of Sun stumbling along with it. Pulling metal handcuffs from Gods know where on his person, the man skillfully handcuffed Sun to the bed's railing in one fluid motion.

Sun stared at his wrist, then the railing, then turned his incredulous look at the gang leader. "You carry around hand cuffs?"

"They come in handy, don't you think?" 

If this guy got any more smug Sun thinks he'd choke on it.

"I have important shit to take care of," Neptune grabbed Sun's chin and turned his head, catching and holding his eyes, "Be a good boy, and don't cause me any more problems than I have now." The man moved his hand up to run his fingers through the shocked thief's hair before pilling back with a smirk and exiting the room.

"What just fucking happened..."

\- - - 

Neptune was gone all of ten seconds before Sun shot into action. Using his free hand he dug around in his backpack until he found his tool kit. The dumb ass didn't think to confiscate a thief's bag. Not that Sun doesn't have an extra lock pick or two hidden in his clothing. He removed the pick from the bag and worked away at the lock on the cuff around his wrist until he heard the 'click' and it swung open. Luckily the man didn't activate the double lock; Sun would have been stuck for far longer than he wanted to. Those things were hell to open.

Now, the smart thing to do would be to jump right out the window he came in from and book it the hell away from here. Sure there was a turf war going on outside, and sure the chance of being caught in the middle of it was pretty damn high... But between ) running back to base with your tail between your legs or ) finding cover in the warehouse and learning your opponent, the latter sounded most honor worthy. He couldn't leave empty handed right? He had an image to uphold, one he worked damned hard to create and he'd be fifteen feet deep in the river before he let some prissy dick of a gang leader shit all over it.  _'_ _One I may, or may not be sexually attracted to. A little bit.'_

Sun was sure all the members of Titans were already down in the yard but he took care to stay to the shadows and stop his movement if he heard even the slightest noise. Sun slowly worked his way through the forth floor, then down to the third, then second, and finally the ground floor. He failed to find anything of use while making his descent. Other than Neptune's room, the place seemed like any other gang hideout; not that he'd been in very many.

The sounds of yelling made Sun hold his position behind a crate and strain his ears to pick up what was being said. He could barely make out Neptune's name and a bunch of colorful swears (Sun made sure to save some of those to memory). He picked up who was yelling immediately. He'd only ever had a run in with Roman Torchwick once but the man had a pretty recognizable voice. 

Sun peaked around the wooden box to scope out the room he was in. It was the main room of the warehouse; a large, mostly empty, space with a handful of containers and boxes pushed out of the way. He spotted the front door and made a frustrated noise in his throat. A small group of thugs were crowded around the opening, looking out into the yard. Sun couldn't see very well from his position, he'd have to get closer. The thief stuck as close as he could to the right wall, moving between crates and random pieces of junk until he came to the last object before the door. 

Now Sun saw that there were three thugs total, and they were well armed. The idea of taking on these men fled from his mind in the presence of their big guns. He hated gangs. 

He looked around his new position and noticed a window not far up the wall, if he climbed the covered boxes he hid behind he'd be able to reach it easily. The problem was not being seen. The men didn't take their eyes off the scene outside but Sun still wasn't up for that gamble. Maybe if he waited until actual fighting started, the men would be to engrossed by it to tear their attention away. All Sun needed was a good distraction. 

As luck would have it, not a minute later the clash of steel rang across the air. Ask and you shall receive, right? 

Sun, as silently as he could, hoisted himself on the first box and climbed onto the second. He reached over to the window and pulled up, swinging the bottom half open. The space was small, but he easily crawled through it and dropped to the ground below. He was sure no one would notice the opening and planned to use it to break in the building at a later time if needed. 

Sun quickly moved to the front corner of the warehouse and, back to the wall, looked around the corner. 

People filled the yard, all locked in a fight with a member of the opposite gang. There must have been some unspoken rule against using firepower, or maybe they had made the terms while Sun was on an upper floor, because everyone he could see used fists, knives, clubs, pipes, and even full on swords. Then there was Neptune; Sun has spotted him easily in the melee with his blue hair. The gang leader was standing casually in front of the warehouse, watching the fight rage on with crossed arms. Now he had his blue bandana pulled up over half his face, his goggles covering his eyes, and the reason Sun was in this mess hanging on his back. 

There was no sneaking past a hundred people to get behind Neptune, and even if he could manage that he didn't know how the thing was attached. The only way he could get close to Neptune at all was if he climbed back in the window, took out the guys inside, and crept through the front door. There was no chance in hell. Sun would just have to hope the turf war stayed away from his position and wait it out. 

Sun watched on as gang destroyed gang. His attention stuck on a pair locked in combat as the woman sliced a man's hand clean off, sending his weapon skittering feet away from them. She then lodged the long knife deep into his gut and used his body as leverage to dodge a man coming at her from the left. Before she even got her feet back on the ground the man acting as pincushion grew a second smile. He fell to his knees, desperately grasping at his throat. Sun didn't even see when she pulled the second knife. In seconds he was dead. 

More of White Fangs members turned their attention to her as she brought down the second man with little effort. Sun spotted the green haired man that came to Neptune earlier running to her. As she saw him she nodded and they went back to back, her knives glistening with fresh blood and his fists raised to the oncoming group. Together they worked flawlessly to bring down every single threat. 

The green haired man's eyes landed on Neptune and he called out to him, the gang leader barely sparing him a glance before he moved. Sun watched as Neptune's stance changed from relaxed to combat ready; he put more distance between his feet, providing a good center of balance, and uncrossed his arms. He reached behind him and grabbed the metal rectangle, easily detaching it. He must have pushed some kind of button or hit a switch because the rectangle transformed, a shining trident-like blade taking its place. 

Sun had never seen anything like it before. A sturdy pole extended from the end of what was recognizably the original form, but now it was split into three sections, razor sharp metal covering the length of the first while the other two only had blades on the ends. Sun could now see why Nocturnal would be commissioned for such a weapon. He had to wonder at the type of person to even know about it, none the less sought it for themselves. Was this the 'Cronos' Neptune mentioned?

The thief watched, utterly transfixed, as Neptune skillfully tore down every enemy in his path. Members of Titians gave their boss plenty of room to work, escaping from any brawl they were locked in and leaving only White Fang in the path of destruction. The bladed trident soared across skin as Neptune wove across the lawn, twisting and flipping his weapon every way to reflect his body movements. 

Sun didn't know what broke his daze from the gang boss and his death dance, but his eyes flickered over to the front door and saw the three men from inside slowly walk out; their guns drawn and aimed up front. There was something off about their body language... They shouldn't be tense and have hard expressions, all the other Titans were watching the battle with smirks while they perched on the wall or stood in groups. That's when Sun understood what the three were planning and his stomach twisted.

The stayed were they were in the shadow of the building until Neptune slashed down the last remaining White Fang. 

"Hey!" The center man's voice was thick with nerves.

Neptune twisted his head to the side, then, seeing the guns trained on him, fully turned to face them; shoulders back and posture straight.

"You're gonna give us the blade," yelled the man to the left, "Form it up nice and pretty then bring it to us."

There was an uproar from the Titians around the yard, some even moved toward the three until Neptune held up a hand to halt them. He shifted his hold on Cronos until he held the black cylinder under the body, resting the end of the staff on the ground. He pushed the goggles up in their place on his forehead and pulled down his bandana.

"You three believe you can wield it?" The smirk on Neptune's face said everything he didn't.

"We got our reasons for it, now do as we say or we'll fill you with holes. We think you gonna pull any bullshit and we'll shoot you anyways."

Everyone watched in silence as Neptune transformed his weapon back into it's portable compact form and walked the distance to the men, leaving a few feet between himself and them. Neptune did as he was told and slowly reached across the gap to transfer Cronos to the middle thug.

"Thanks for being so accommodating boss, you've been a real help. Sorry I'm gonna put a bullet in your brain anyway."

Something in Sun's mind screamed as he watched the face of the man twist into dark pleasure.  _No!_ Shock filled its place as he felt a pull, like part of his soul was ripped from his body and the abruptness of it left him breathless. He watched as a golden copy of himself flew with inhuman speed toward the three men, and passed right through them. Time seemed frozen in place as the copy faded into light. Then something even weirder happened to the three men. all at once deep slices formed all over their bodies, agonizing screams filled the air as blood sprayed from every cut. Neptune raised an arm to shield his face from the red mist.

The screams ended fairly quickly as the corpses fell into the dirt, barely more than ribbons of flesh covering bone. Sun stood still, eyes wide as he tried to process what just happened. What he just did. He was out in the open, unable to recall stepping out of cover of the building. Now nothing buffered the shocked stares he received. He paid no mind to the spread of gang members ogling him, only one person received his attention. One person who followed the path of whatever  _that_  was back to Sun himself. 

Their eyes locked, neither so much as blinking. Then Sun ran. He didn't know if he was even going the right way back to Nocturnal's base and he didn't care. He just needed to get the fuck out of there. He scaled the wall blocking his path behind the warehouse in one quick move and ran until his lungs hurt and the building was well out of sight. 

Back at the gang base Sage was the first to move, breaking everyone else out of their shocked and confused state. He went to Neptune's side as the gang started cleaning up the bodies, piling them up to burn later. 

"Do you want to send a group after him?"

"No." Neptune wiped at his face, looking at the blood that covered his fingers, "I going to take a shower. Make sure everything's good here." The gang leader took one last look at where the faunus thief had stood then walked into the warehouse.  _'_ _I'll be seeing him again soon enough.'_  

\- - -

Yang was, in the most basic sense, a single mom. Her dad was a drunk of the worst kind who got violent when he was drinking, which was always. Her mom wasn't much better. No, she never hit her daughters or treated alcohol as something to fill a void, but she let it happen. As Yang got older she tried and tried to find something that excused her mother's forced ignorance, and forced it was. All she came up with time after time was fear or weakness, neither of those were forgivable reasons to subject your children to abuse. Of course their father beat his wife as well, sometimes worse in his self-imposed stupor. Maybe mom thought if she took the abuse with no complaint she'd spare her children the same fate. How stupid of her.

Even with everything that Yang went through, she never stopped loving her mom. She would remember the times before things got bad, when her mom would come read to her before bed and kiss her forehead, believing it chased the bad dreams away. Or when she'd put a bandaid over a tear in Yang's favorite tiger stuffed animal, telling her it'd be all better the next morning; First thing Yang did when she woke up would be to peel off the bandaid and squeal with awe at the fixed cut. Of course it wasn't magic, like she thought back then, but her mom taking the tiger as she slept and sewing it back up.  _  
_

Yang never stopped loving her mom. That's why, after watching her father beat her mother to death and turn his sights to Ruby's bedroom, she took a knife and stabbed him. She stabbed and stabbed until the screams stopped and he lay unmoving in a pool of his own blood. She took care to wash the blood off her hands and change her clothes before sneaking into her little sister's room to carry her out of the house. There was a nice place with nice people where she'd go. She'd never return to the house again. Never let little Ruby know what happened that night. Yang was only fourteen, carrying a four year old on her back down dark city streets.

The place she fled to was a warm welcoming bar her dad would drag her too when her mom was at work and they couldn't afford a babysitter. The woman working behind the counter was so friendly toward Yang, asking her about school and keeping her entertained as her father drank himself stupid a foot away. The man who owned the bar was also nice to Yang the few times he passed through while she was there. He would sneak her sweets like cookies or hard candy. 

When Yang finally reached the bar the sign was off and the door locked. She slipped the still sleeping Ruby off her back and softly set her against the wall. She was tired and cold, the walk all the way here sapping her strength. A small shaking hand knocked on the wood, and when nobody answered she knocked harder. She was caught off guard when the door opened suddenly to an annoyed blonde woman. The woman's face changed to surprise as she took in the young girls outside her door. 

"Yang?"

At seeing this woman who she clung to so desperately as the person who would save them, the emotions she locked back burst from the place they fled to when she witnessed her mother killed. She fell to her knees and cried. 

The woman called back into the building before she collected the too small girl in her arms. The same man that would give Yang cookies appeared behind her. After getting caught up on the situation he went out to pick up the sleeping toddler, holding her against his green robe.

The adults carried the children upstairs into one of the apartments, and the man stayed with them in the living room while the woman went down a hallway. She came back a few seconds later with blankets, wrapping one around Ruby first then doing the same to Yang before disappearing into the kitchen area.

At this point Yang had cried herself out and sat sniffling on the couch, pulling her blanket around her for comfort. 

"Yang," The man spoke softly, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Yang brought her eyes up to met warm brown ones and saw they were empty of the hate and violence she was use to having look back at her. Instead they held compassion, caring. She could trust this man, she knew, and the woman she sought from the start. She looked over to Ruby, she didn't want to voice the things that happened, the thing she did, in front of her baby sister. When she looked back at the man she saw he understood. 

He stood from the coffee table he used at a chair and gently picked up the toddler, careful not to wake her, then moved her to what Yang assumed was a bedroom. He walked out a minute later and took his position across from Yang again. The woman returned from the kitchen and held out a mug of hot chocolate to Yang who took it with fervor. The woman took a seat next to Yang on the couch and listened to her recount what happened only a few short hours ago. 

The two kept silent as Yang told them everything. About what her life was like after her father had lost a brother to suicide and his job in the same week. How he would come home drunk every night, if he came home at all, after they lost their house. How Yangs mom had had an affair and gotten pregnant with Ruby. How their parents only talked to each other when they were screaming. Then how her mom stopped screaming all together, and how screaming was the last thing her father did. 

Yang was afraid to look up from her half drunk hot chocolate as she brought her story to a close. She knew what she did was horrible. No matter what circumstances it was under, murder is still murder. If they kicked her out, where would she go? Would they keep Ruby? She hoped they would. She thinks she could make it on her own if she had to. She loves her sister with all her heart and wants to keep her near but, a life on the streets begging for food or money wasn't how she wanted Ruby to live.

Yang didn't see the look shared by the two adults; one that held importance, bringing both to the same conclusion. 

"Listen to me Yang," Yang made herself look up from the mug she clutched in her hands and found the man's expression hard to read, "We'll keep you and your sister here, in our care. But you must promise to never speak of what happened tonight to anyone else, do you understand?"

"Y-yes," She nearly dropped her mug in relief, "Yes I promise, thank you!" 

"My name is Ozpin, and this is Glynda. You and your sister will stay in the apartment across the hall from this one. Glynda's is the on to the right of yours, if you need her for anything. For tonight you and your sister...." 

"Ruby," Yang supplied.

"Ruby, may stay here. You can join her in my room and I'll sleep out here." 

"Now," Glynda spoke up, standing and wiping imaginary wrinkles from her night shirt, "Lets get some food into you, you must be starving."

Four years later Glynda invited her over for tea, when Ruby was away at school, and changed her life. Yang was told of Glynda and Ozpin's profession, as assassins for hire. They watched her closely in the years after she showed up at their doorstep, with fear in her eyes and blood in her hair. They believed she had the makings to become one of the best assassins Vale has ever seen. They would provide the training and would rely jobs to her so she wouldn't have to go face to face with someone who knew what she did.

It was a lot to take in at once. The people she owed everything to, who had been taking care of her and her sister for years were trained killers. They did it for a living! But Yang found that she didn't fear them. This man and woman gave her and Ruby the love and respect Yang hadn't felt for years. They weren't bad, evil, people, and this news didn't change anything.

Yang had considered the offer for a minute, eyes glazing over in deep thought. She took a deep breath to steady herself and looked Glynda in the eye, chin up and shoulders back with full confidence.

"I'll do it."

Training was the hardest thing Yang ever had to do. Ozpin taught her hand-to-hand combat, how to take apart and put together various types of guns, how to handle knives and swords, stealth, and the best ways to blend in to a crowd. Glynda handled cardio and strength training, marksmanship, the art of disguise, schooled her in all the different kinds of poisons, and strengthened her lying skills. By the end of two years, when both she and her guardians felt she was ready, she was given her first contract. 

Now she's twenty three, living a seemingly normal life. She works in a bar downtown between jobs, lives above it with her little sister in a nice apartment, and spends time with friends when she has time. Ruby doesn't know about Yangs real profession, or Ozpin and Glynda's for that matter. The three agreed whole heartedly to keep the sweet girl as innocent as possible from the darkness that bled into the fabric of life. Yang would tell her some day, but for now Ruby was only thirteen; a happy, healthy, bouncy child who had friends and school and normal thirteen year old drama. 

Yang looked at the clock and swore. She had an appointment in fifteen minutes and it would take thirty to get down there in time; unless she broke a few speeding laws. 

"Glynda I have to go, will you be okay on your own or do you want me to send Ozpin down?" Yang removed her half apron and hung it on a hook under the bar.

"I'm fine, it's a slow night. Luck to you."

Yang smiled and took the door behind the bar up to her shared apartment, taking the stairs two at a time. She shot a 'hey' at Ruby as she entered the living room, who was watching a cartoon on TV. 

"Hey sis, where's the fire?"

"On your head looks like," Yang answered as she speed-walked behind Ruby, tousling her hair as she passed the back of the couch.

"Oh haha, you're so funny." Ruby came to Yang a handful of months ago asking to dye her hair a blood red color. Of course Yang went out and bought her bleach and hair dye and colored it for her, but she liked to tease her little sis about it as much as she could. "It's grown out now, you can barely see the red anymore."

"We can re-dye it if you want," Yang yelled from down the hall.

"And go through your lame jokes all over again? No thanks. Besides, I think I like my black hair more."

"You know I do it out of love." Yang reemerged from her room, carrying her motorcycle helmet under her arm, "I'm going out for a little bit, I might be back late so don't wait up." She gave her sister a kiss on the top of the head as she headed to to door.

"Okay, luck to you." Ruby waved, turning back to the floating yellow triangle on screen. 

 _Luck to you._  Something Ozpin and Glynda used before the other went off to fulfill a contract, and then to Yang when she started. Yang got into the habit of saying it and would send Ruby off to the bus with it everyday. Ruby picked up the habit and said it anytime Yang left. Even if Ruby didn't fully understand the meaning behind it, it was still heartwarming to hear from her only family. 

Yang went out the back door of the building and mounted her motorbike, sending off a silent prayer that Weiss wouldn't be too upset with her for being... twenty minutes late!  _Shit, looks like i'm speeding._

The drive to Ice Queen was an uneventful one, besides the many honks and fingers she got for being reckless. She never worried about getting into a wreck or anything like that, her driving skills were impeccable, and her reflexes even more so. But even with that she'd never drive the way she does alone with Ruby on the back. 

Yang parked her motorcycle against a wall, across the street from the entrance to Ice Queen, and covered it with a tarp; a precaution when she went on an assassination mission that followed into every shady thing she needed her bike for. The building that housed the fight club wasn't unusual in any way, solid concrete that flowed into more solid concrete buildings on either side. Both empty, Yang knew, and all three devoid of any kind of decorations. Not even a window. It would be suspicious if it weren't for the fact that every building in this section of the city looked the same as Ice Queen. Who ever ran the club, before Weiss fought her way to the top, did well in picking a location in the old factory district.   

The other smart thing about the club was that once you walked through the first door, outside, you had two flights of stairs to go down before going through another into the club itself. A bodyguard stood watch outside the second door to screen any potential threats to the organization.Music flooded across Yang as she opened the inner most door to the club. That and cheering. The roped off ring in the middle of the room occupied two very fucked up looking men. 

Yang scanned the place for her friend, finding her easily in the crowd. If her white hair didn't giver her away instantly her outfit would. Weiss wore a beautiful short white dress that faded into blue as it reached the bottom, and a long sleeved jacket to match. They both shimmered nicely in the dim lighting. Yang thought it was a bit much considering what type of place she ran but hey, to each their own. 

"Weiss hey-"

"Do you have any idea what time it is!" Aaaand she looked livid.

"Like," Yang looked at her phone, "9:40."

"You were  _suppose_  to be here ten minutes ago, where the hell were you?"

"I'm sorry I just-"

"No no no," Weiss waved her hands to cut her off, "No excuses, just get in there before our client gets pissy and leaves." _  
_

_That would make two of you,_ Yang thought. The underground fight club hadn't always been known as 'Ice Queen'. In the time before Weiss rose to power it was known as 'Evil Eye'. As a fighter Weiss earned the name Ice Queen for herself. All the regular fighters formed nick names as they got more and more popular, and the leader before her earned Evil Eye for himself. Yang never met the previous boss, but heard plenty of stories of the man who had gotten an eye gouged out during one of his early fights. Weiss confirmed the rumor that after the eye was popped out he shoved it down the throat of his opponent, effectively choking him and ending his life. The name fit.

Weiss didn't mean the ring when she said 'get in there'. Yang had started picking up her own contracts starting this year, and Ozpin had pointed her toward the fight club where he use to go to hash out the details with clients.

Her and Weiss had instantly hit it off when they met. They were the same age and had similar interests outside illegal activity, and family issues. Yang had gotten particularly drunk with her one night and the assassin had asked if Weiss' parents knew she was doing. Weiss scoffed and went on to say they'd stay oblivious even if she still lived with them. Probably even if she mentioned it over the dinner table. She didn't even think they noticed she had moved out until she was long gone from the mansion and set up for life in the underground, maybe still didn't five years later knowing them. 

She did have an older sister, Winter, but she paid no attention to Weiss when they lived in the same house either. Winter went out of her way to ignore her sister actually. All Winter cared about was popping pills and having a good time, nursing her hangover and redoing it the next night. Yang felt the atmosphere between them turn mellow and she said the first thing that came to mind.

"I killed my dad when I was fourteen."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

Then the girls broke into a fit of drunken laughter. Yang felt their bond strengthen. 

Weiss all but pushed Yang to one of the side rooms, telling her to be extra nice to the customer to make up for being tardy. Yang rolled her eyes at her friend but agreed, only if to calm her down.

Yang shut the door behind her, the room was small but not cramped, and the only thing in it was a tabled that was nailed to the ground. A man stood on the far side, facing the door and looked up as Yang entered. He looked as boring as any other clint Yang met with, obviously put together, and filthy rich if he could meet a price as high as hers. 

"Ah, you must be the assassin. I've heard a lot of good things about you. Not a single failed contract if I believe what's been said."

"Yes, and I plan to keep it that way. Now please, explain what you need from me."

"This man," Her client pulled a folded up piece of paper from inside his suit jacket and passed it to Yang, "Is Nicolas Crawford. He lives in the South Estate building, room 2017."

Yang unfolded the paper to find a picture of the man she was to kill. He was maybe forty or fifty, with a balding head and portly belly. "Do you know his day-to-day schedule? Where he'll most likely be friday nights?"

"Not day-to-day no, but I know he'll be attending a charity ball this thursday. It runs from eight to midnight and he should be there the whole time."

"It will be done. Do you have my money?"

The man bent down to retrieve the suitcase that sat next to his foot. He set it on the table, facing Yang, and opened it. Piles of sorted and wrapped bills looked her in the face, filling the suitcase to the brim. She smiled at the man and took the suitcase, putting the piece of paper inside as she closed it. 

"Thank you very much sir. If the right amount is here, expect Nicolas Crawford to be taken care of Thursday night." Yang nodded her head goodbye and walked out the door, carrying a suitcase worth thousands and thousands of dollars.

The smile fell from Yang's face as she rejoined the group in the main room. 

"Don't be like that baby, all I want is a little fuck from you."

"Even if I weren't put off completely by sex, I'd never let a dirty piece of shit like you touch me." Weiss was glaring daggers at a man across the bar from her. Yang quickly joined her side.

"Mind you're own fuckin' business bitch," The man aimed at Yang. 

"Didn't you hear the lady scum, move the fuck on. She really will cut your prick off." Next to her Weiss pulled a knife and forcefully stuck in the wooden counter, both sets of eyes never leaving the man. 

By this time they were gaining a crowd around the bar. The man shiftily looked around, his body language turning more and more uncomfortable with each added stare.

"W-whatever, you're ugly anyway I didn't even want to fuck that bad." The man spit and exited the club. 

"Why do these guys always poke and poke and when they force us girls to get aggressive, just to get them off our ass, turn into the biggest piss babies in the world?"

Weiss sighed. "I'd by lying if I said I wasn't use to it by now. Thanks for the back up."

"Of course," Yang returned her smile, then raised the suitcase and raised her eyebrow, "How about I buy you that necklace you were talking about the other night?" 

Her best friend's face lit up, eyes wide and pure unbridled happiness rolling off her in waves. Yang thought that look could cure cancer. Times like these, whether it was with Weiss or Ruby, always made Yang feel like her life leading up to living with Glynda and Ozpin was worth it. 

\- - - 

It was cold the night of the charity ball. Yang wore thick black leggings, boots that came up over her knees, grey wool socks, a black turtle neck sweater over a long sleeved white undershirt, with a grey knit cap to top it off; yet the chill still rose goosebumps on her skin. A duffle bag filled with weapons, and any gear she might need for a speedy clean up of her body (assassination could get messy), rested next to her knee. Currently the assassin was on a high roof, across the street from the Estate Building. Her target was getting dressed for the party. Yang had the perfect position to look into his wide open windows, and the high powered binoculars to match.  

It was ten minutes to eight, when the hell was he going to stop fucking around and leave already? Of course being in her line of work patience was a must, but people who take twenty minutes to pick out a tie only to switch it two minutes later really tested hers something fierce. 

The man finally turned out the lights and left his apartment. Yang waited until she could see him on the street, hailing a cab and climbing in, to move. She'd be lying if she said this part of the job didn't give her a sort of rush.

She had compared herself to a lioness on more than one occasion, stalking her unsuspecting prey. The satisfaction she got as she easily flirted her way through the lobby of the high end hotel was almost dizzying. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and giggle at how cold it was outside. It wasn't funny by any means, but it erased any suspicion from the receptionist. It was all so easy.

She didn't, however, get a rush from actually killing. It was dirty, hard work; the rare job where she could use a sniper rifle was a blessing. The killing itself was a mess, it was  _getting away with it_  that gave her that natural high. 

She was in a position of power. She was untouchable. 

The elevator doors opened and Yang stepped out. With every foot closer she came to room 2017 the more into her animalistic self she disappeared. By the time she stopped outside the correct door she was all long claws and sharp teeth, wrapped up pretty in a female body.

Getting into the room was no problem. She had swiped a master key card from behind the front desk as the receptionist ran a random errand for her. Finding a place to hide was even easier. They room layout had the door open into a short hallway you could see the whole living room from. There weren't any mirrors on the far wall; ceiling to floor length windows, yes, but if the lights weren't on there'd be no seeing her. Hiding on the other side of the short hallway was the perfect spot. All Yang had to do now is sit and wait. She hoped the man came home early.

Two hours passed with no incident. Yang crouched, leaned against the wall, and played on her phone; brightness dimmed as far as it would go. She had planned out every little detail before she even camped out on the roof across the street, so there was no thinking about the job to give her mind something to do. She cursed under her breath as a notification came up and she saw that her latest photo shoot cost her five hundred thousand followers. Staying on top was a pain in the ass. A thumping noise pulled her out of virtual Hollywood hell. 

Yang immediately locked her phone and slid it back into her bag. She was sure the noise didn't come from around the corner, where the only door into this suite was. The assassin stood slowly, flicking her eyes from place to place. Then she heard a different noise, like scratching on glass, and she pinned it down to coming from somewhere in front of her. All thoughts flew from Yang's mind as she watched a figure slowly come into view  _outside_ the window. First a dark head appeared, then glowing eyes stared into the dark room. If Yang believed in demons she'd be shitting herself right now. 

Even without the fear that some humanoid hell creature was scaling the glass building to come eat her soul, she was still extremely put off. Yang stood perfectly still, body tense as she watched the rest of the figure crawl up the glass. The person had now reached the top of the window; if they were inside they would be touching the ceiling. Then Yang heard the faint sound of glass shattering, watching as sparkling pieces of shattered glass rained down. A minute later and the sound wasn't so faint as the window of the room she was in exploded into a thousand pieces. The strange figure held onto the platform they had created by breaking the window above, and swung into the room.

_'Are you so serious right now...'_

All fear and confusion left Yang, replaced heavily with annoyance. This was obviously someone, a perfectly human someone, up to something illegal. Yang didn't fear criminals, especially the kind with a flair for the theatrical. Yang hit the light switch a foot away and put on her best bitch face.

"Was that really fucking necessary?"

The figure, that could now be made out as a woman, jumped so high Yang was afraid she might fall back out of the giant hole she just created in the side of the hotel. Black bangs framed a tan face and bright yellow eyes stared wide open, showing her shock at being caught off guard. The women didn't move or reply, just blinked at the sudden light.

"Did you just climb the whole building?" 

The woman recovered herself somewhat, looking at Yang from the corner of her eye warily, "...Yes."

"We're on the twentieth floor!" 

"Would you have had a better plan? I'm not exactly an honored guest."

Yang laughed at the irony. "You and me both babe. And I used the fucking door, like a normal person."

The woman raised an eyebrow at the pet name but didn't comment on it. "You can't use the front door if you need to avoid being seen."

"I'm pretty sure there are ways around that particular problem. Ones far less dangerous. I don't know what kind of job you're here for but I'm sure whatever it pays isn't worth risking your life."

Yang's attention tore away from the woman's face to watch as two black cat ears unflattened themselves from her head. So she wasn't human after all...

"Why I'm here is none of your business, just as why you're here is none of mine. You let me take what I came for and leave and I'll give you the same courtesy."

Before Yang could answer one way or the other, the front door swung open. There stood Nicolas Crawford, the very man Yang had a contract out for.  _C_ _areful what you wish for._

Before the man could even process that there were two strange women in his living room, Yang pulled out her silenced handgun and shot him. The bullet hitting him perfectly between the eyes. Yang failed to see the bellhop standing behind him until it was too late. The second man sprinted down the hall screaming bloody murder, literally. She needed to go. But first she took a look at the other woman, and to her horror saw her looking at the opening in the wall. Judging it like she wondered if the fall wouldn't kill her. 

"Wha..?" Yang grabbed her duffle bag and then the faunus' arm, pulling her toward the door, "Door! Normal person!"

The woman resisted at first, but must have come to the conclusion that fighting would just waste more time. The two ran side by side, tearing down the hallway, then the staircase once they reached it. Yang has never in her life sprinted down nineteen flights of stairs and she never wants to do it again for as long as she lived. The woman seemed to almost enjoy it. She jumped with ease over the railings, bouncing around from staircase to staircase as if it took nothing.  _These fucking faunus..._

On the first floor it was Yang's turn to be rudely pulled in a different direction. The assassin had planned to sprint through the lobby and out the front doors. Not very smart once she thought about it. The pair took a cut through the kitchen instead, heading out into the alley behind the hotel. Yang made the split second decision to follow the woman. She knew what awaited her at home; Ruby passed out on the couch with cartoons running in the background. She'd turn off the TV and carry her sister to bed, tucking her in and kissing her forehead to chase the bad dreams away.

This new woman was shrouded in mystery. She had skills Yang actually found herself impressed by, and striking features she could look at for hours. She wanted to see this woman again.

The faunus caught on that she was being followed pretty quickly. Even so, she didn't stop running until she thought they'd be safe from pursuing hotel staff. They ended up outside a closed cafe on one of the less populated streets. Not a soul could be seen in either direction, except the pedestrians that crossed at the ends.

"Hey... So..." Yang took a minute to catch her breath, "What's your name?"

The woman looked at her oddly, questioning the intelligence of sharing her name with an assassin. Yang thought she was probably right. It wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, so she was surprised when the woman actually answered. 

"Blake."

"Nice to meet you Blake, I'm Yang. Kinda sucks we met like that huh? Seeing me put a bullet in someones head probably doesn't make the best first impression."

"Was... there something you wanted?"

Yang started at the question and embarrassment flooded her body. She was making a dumb second impression too.

"Yeah uh, I just didn't want that mess to be our last- only, meeting. Like, I want to see you again is what I mean." Yang spotted the cafe, "Hey how about we have lunch here some time? This looks pretty cute right?"

Blake shifted her gaze to the cafe then back to the blushing woman in front of her. 

"Yeah. I'd like that." Blake found herself trying to hold back a smile as the woman's expression turned radiant. She was failing. 

"So say, Saturday? One o'clock?" Yang bit her lip.

"That works for me," Blake turned her back, heading down the empty street, "See you then, Yang."

Yang waited until she turned the corner to let out a high-pitched squeal, positive Blake was out of earshot. She had a date! Ruby would be sick of Yang's constant chatter in an hour... She was so excited to tell her!

\- - - 

It had been hell when he got back to base. His muscles ached, his head hurt, and his core still felt weird from that... thing, being sucked out. All he wanted to do was drag himself up to his room, collapse in his warm soft bed, and sleep for three days.

"Hey, Sun!"

Mother. Fucker.

"What?" Sun snapped. He didn't even bother turning around. He recognized the voice belonging to Madison, one of Nocturnal's pickpockets, and the woman wasn't worth the effort.

"Boss was looking for you, wanted to know if you got the score."

"Let him know I failed, I'm going to my room. Let everyone else know not to bother me or they'll lose fingers." 

Madison yelled something at Sun's retreating back, but he was too tired to give a shit.

Even as exhausted as Sun was, sleep didn't take him right away. He laid on his bed, fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. Events from earlier today danced through his mind, piece by piece. Unsurprisingly, the one he hung on longest was a golden version of himself slicing three men to shreds. Sun had a semblance. There was no denying thats what it was. Everyone in Vale knew about the special powers few people possessed. Usually semblances presented themselves at a much earlier age than Sun was. The average age being ten and latest being about twelve or thirteen.

Before a semblance fully formed into something usable, the child that had one would show the telling signs of power within them. If a parent suspected, they'd report it to the proper division of people's services, who'd then send out an expert to check over the child. If they did have the gift, they were taken away and forced into a special class of children just like them. As they neared eighteen they were sorted into different groups of Ironwood's army. The children grew to be trained soldiers, ready to protect against any threat to the empire. 

Many citizens saw the practice for what it was. Ironwood's mad grab for power. No one knew how he managed to pull it off, but a law was passed ten years ago that made it illegal to fail to report a child showing signs of semblance. Having a semblance was rare, a family hiding a child with one even more so, yet there never failed to be a news story reporting on a parent facing charges every few months. 

Sun knew he was safe from being drafted into the program. He was way past normal age, a thief who lived in an old factory turned headquarters for the best thieves group in the city, and to top it off no one knew about it. Hell,  _he_ didn't even know about it until an hour ago when a razor sharp version of himself bleed three men dry in the middle of a gang war... Ok so maybe a few people knew. Like, a group of fifty something people. But there's no way gang members would be lining up outside the VPD to report a freak incident.  _'Yes, hello officer, I was just about to curb stomp this White Fang punk when a kid with yellow hair killed some dudes with some kind of glittery ghost thing.'_ Sun chuckled at the mental image.

No, his secret was perfectly safe.

Sun kicked off his sneakers and rolled over to face the wall. He'd find Scar first thing when he woke up and fill him in on the shit storm that went down.

\- - -

"Wait... He carries around a pair of handcuffs?" 

"I know, I was shocked too but keep up." Sun sat on his usual place on Scarlet's counter, more in the way than was appreciated, "So after he cuffs me, not very effective on a master thief such as myself..."

"Of course," Scarlet rolls his eyes.

"He takes his trident weapon thing, Cronos, and heads down to fuck up White Fang, and after I get free I head down after him. I looked for anything of value I could pick up and stash away but the place was shit. Anyway I get down and see these guys on the inside of the door while everyone else was out in the yard. I thought they were just members of Titans holding down the fort or something but it turns out they were waiting to see how the turf war played out. I climbed out a window and watched it go down from around the corner, it was intense dude, gangs do not fuck around."

"Your tail's fucking up my stacks." Scarlet batted the appendage away from the money.

"So the dude just stands there... Like he didn't care how the fight turned out one way or the other. He's such an arrogant prick. He just stood there watching until the guy who walked in on us calls his name, and suddenly he's a war god, cutting down everyone in his way."

"No that's Ares, or Mars if you want to keep the Roman names."

"What?"

"Mars is the God of war. Neptune is the Roman equivalent to Poseidon, God of the seas."

"...Shut up." Sun used his tail to whack Scarlet on the side of the head, "As I was saying, this dude killed literally every White Fang left on his property. Then, this is were it gets really crazy, the three guys from inside come out guns drawn on him. They told him to hand over the weapon or else they'd kill him. His gang moved in on them but he stopped them. He gave the guys Cronos but the guy in the middle said he was gonna shoot him anyway and then..." Sun scanned the room, making sure everyone was out of earshot before he continued. 

"I- A thing like, ripped from my soul... It was shaped like me, but gold and kinda see-through. It flew at the three guys and sliced them into little pieces Scar, blood shot everywhere. Then it dissolved into air and was gone." 

Scarlet looked up from where he was counting money and searched Sun's eyes for any signs of lying. When he found nothing but sincerity he ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"Of course you'd have a semblance. Why the fuck not?" Scarlet leaned back in his chair and gave his friend a long look, "How many people saw it?"

"I don't know, fifty? Sixty maybe?"

"Goddamnit Sun..." The man buried his face in his hands.

"What? It's not like they'd report it to the VPD, they're gang members Scar."

"No, you're right there." Scarlet's expression turned serious, "Sun, there's a practice that's been picked up by people of the city, criminals especially, where they bring in people with semblance powers in return for money or a favor. Usually a clean record or a get out of jail free pass. I've heard Ironwood's been growing desperate to bring people into his fucked up child-army. There are less kids with semblance powers showing up these days, it's been so for a while now. If people know about your power, especially a whole fucking gang, you could be in deep shit. Please tell me you had your disguise on."

"Well..."

"Shit... Well it won't be that bad, you'll just have to keep a low profile for a while. No one knows who you are or what you do." Scarlet paused, "You said you heard Roman while you were inside the warehouse right? Did he get offed like the rest of the White Fang there?"

"I don't remember seeing him once I got out actually, He's not a hard man to miss. Maybe he pissed himself and ran once he saw Neptune with his big ass trident." Sun's face took on a sour look again, "What a fucking douche. Who even needs something that over-the-top anyway? Nothing screams 'I'm compensating' like that thing. He acts like such a high and mighty asshole when he has it too. Or maybe that's just all the time, I wouldn't be surprised." 

"Mm. Sounds like you have a crush."

"What? Shut up, don't be stupid." 

"I'm not hearing a no."

"Fuck off, don't you have thugs to service or something?" Sun hopped off the counter. He needed a drink.

"You'd be one of those thugs, Sun," Scarlet called after him, "And you still aren't denying it!"

\- - -

Sun took a cab to Beacon, hoping to ease his mind from all the stress he'd accumulated in the past day. He wasn't going to get plastered, at least, not tonight. Now that a good amount of people knew about his semblance he'd have to stay somewhat alert. Then again Beacon was the neutral territory of Vale. The only safer place for him being Nocturnal's base. 

He saw Yang working side by side with Glynda behind the bar, maybe tonight would be better than expected. 

"Vaconian black whiskey, biggest glass you got."

"Coming right up cutie," Yang sang. Her good attitude rubbing Sun the wrong way.

"What's got you all sugary?" 

"Nothing that'd interest you," Yang all but danced behind the counter, collecting a clean glass and the liquor, "I just have a date this Saturday is all."

"Glad one of our lives isn't going to shit." Sun picked up the filled glass and downed half of it in one go, causing Yang to give him a concerned but somewhat impressed stare. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Nope. Just keep my glass filled, angel."

"Fine, but I'm cutting you off at five. Earlier if you cause trouble."

Sun was relieved to see Yang leave him to his alcoholic down-spiral. Only coming by to pick up a glass from behind the bar or to refill his cup. After the second drink Sun was feeling loose and infinitely more happy. After the third he started opening up, dragging Yang into random conversations when she wasn't running back and forth getting bottles. After the fourth his vision started to blur around the edges and his body felt to heavy to move. He felt infinitely better than he had at base.

"Yaaaaang," Sun slapped his hand on the wood, face stretching into a wide goofy smile when he caught Yang's eye, "Com' 'ere sweet cakes."

"Okay kid," Yang eyed him as she approached, "I think you've had enough."

"No no no, this is I'm fine."

"Oh yeah? 'This is I'm fine'?" Yang slid the almost empty glass out of Sun's reach, "Yep, you're officially cut off." 

"But Yaaaaaaaang," Sun whined, "I'm so bored, what am I s'ppose to do now? Hey, why don' we hang out after you get off, what time is that?"

"Hah, not happening. Why don't you go chase someone else's tail? I guarantee you'll have no luck with me." 

"Are you saying you don' find me super hot and funny? I'm a good lay I proooomise."

Yang rolled her eyes, "Sun, I'm one hundred and ten percent gay."

"Hey me too! Well, not one hundred percent, more like... fifty percent. No, seventy percent." Math plus alcohol plus questionable sexual orientation did not add up in Sun's head, "Fuck I don' know, people are hot. I like people."

"Yes, how nice. Since the alcohol's stopped flowing, why don't you clear out?" Yang suggested, "We're about to close anyway. You don't have to go home, you just can't stay here."

"Hm, fine. Tonight sucks."

"Yeah yeah, pick up a new hobby. One that doesn't involve downing hard liquor like it's water."

Sun flashed a toothy grin over his shoulder and waved her off. Handling alcohol like a pro was a skill not a hobby.

It was night time, close to three in the morning, but the streets never went dark in the heart of Vale. People could be seen rushing here and here, going to a party or seeing a late night show. Of course it was far busier during the day, some people keeping a normal schedule; but that's what attracted Sun to the night life in the first place. Crowd's were fun. Each one having an energetic vibe to them, but they got annoying too. So many times he'd had his tail trampled by careless feet.

Sun was thankful the night was warm, he'd choose his white button up over his hoodie any day.

The thief headed to the left. He'd go into the first coffee shop he found and try to sober himself up a little; he hated returning to base anything less then coherent. There was a nice twenty four hour shop a few streets down that made the best expressos he's ever had. Not a lot of people seemed to know about the little shop, being tucked away in a residential area. It was perfect.

Unknown to Sun, shadowy figures lurked in every alley on Beacon's block. Waiting for the opportune moment to catch their newest victim. All they had to do was bring the kid back to Roman. The biggest bonus of their lives rested over the head of this rogue semblance user.

Two men silently left the first ally, falling into place behind the unsuspecting faunus with quiet steps. The next two men joined them as Sun passed the second alley. One of the group split off from the other three, planning to cut the boy off once they reached an unpopulated area. It didn't take long.

Sun stopped short as a man stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his path. The faunus would have glared and told the guy off but picked up on the danger as he saw another man circle around him. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed his suspicion. He was surrounded. 

There were only four men total. It would have been no problem for Sun to dodge out of reach and lose them in a more populated street,  _if_  he weren't still feeling alcohol flow through his blood. Just from walking he could tell his movements would be too sluggish. He's going to have to try to talk his way out. _  
_

"Nice night huh, guys?" Sun tested the waters.

"It is isn't it. Wouldn't you say, boys?" Words of agreement flowed around the circle; Sun could feel the dark intent behind them. The man in front of him continued, "How bout you come with us, kid. There's someone who wants to met you."

"Ah, you know, I appreciate the attention but," Sun yawned, "It's late and I've had a long night. How about we exchange numbers and I'll call you."

"We can get physical if we need to punk. Either you come with us willingly, or we beat you unconscious." The man started walking toward Sun, the other three closing in on all sides. 

Sun's eyes narrowed as the men lessened the distance between them. He had to think of something, fast. If he could just wake up his brain enough to get his muscles working he could get away.  _'_ _Alcohol sucks.'_

The thief waited until the men were within arms reach, bidding his time very carefully; if this failed he wouldn't be getting away. The main man reached toward Sun but before he could get a grip the faunus moved quickly to the left. He put a hand on the man's shoulder and put all of his concentration in hoisting himself up and over the body. It was sloppy and he didn't quite land as well as he had hoped, but he pulled it off. Now to preform the feat of escaping. 

Sun took off at a sprint, close to tripping over his own feet more than once. He heard footsteps behind him but didn't risk looking back. He knew his balance was shit right now and if he moved his head it'd throw him off big time. That soon turned irrelevant as he met the pavement anyway. One of the thugs had caught up and pulled back harshly on Sun's tail, holding it in an iron grip. Sun held back a scream best he could. It would break if he continued the rough treatment.

The other three joined them a second later, one kicking Sun over on his back as they looked down at him.

"Hard way it is."

Sun had been in fights before. Fights were fun. They tested his skill, worked out his muscles, entertained him. This wasn't anywhere near one of Sun's usual brawls. For starters he was still drunk. Not fit in the slightest to defend himself. Secondly, it was four on one. And thirdly, they didn't seem to care if Sun lived or died. Nothing was held back behind the kicks and punches.

Sun got fucked up in record time. Blood ran freely from both nostrils, working it's way into Sun's mouth. He knew for a fact his cheek would be swollen for at least three days; eye black for a week after that. He tried to raise his arms to protect his face, but it was futile. The men on either side grabbed his arms, pulling them away from his body and a hand fisted in his hair. He's head was pulled up by the yellow locks, strands being ripped from his scalp in the process.

"I think we should teach this kid some manners, hand me your knife."

Sun struggled, trying and failing to break the hands holding him in place. All he could do was watch in horror as a switch knife was opened and brought to the exposed skin of his arm. His eyes clenched shut as white hot pain blossomed up his limb. He bit his lip, refusing to give the men the satisfaction of hearing him scream. A second cut was carved. 

"Not breaking yet? We got all night punk." A disgusting laugh crawled out of the man throat as he slowly circled the faunus.

Sun's knees hurt from holding himself up and the added pressure the men forced on him but he refused to slump down completely. He'd fight as long as he could, even in such an insignificant way. 

The thief's teeth broke through skin as his tail was stomped on, head bowing from the blinding pain. His back copied the action, spine curving as a line was cut down his flesh. His resolve was breaking. If he just gave in now the pain would stop. He just wanted the pain to stop. 

As if something had heard his plea the hands around his arms let go. Sun barely managed to catch himself before his face hit the stone. A second later the boot on his tail was removed. Sun face twisted in agony as he curled it protectively to his body. 

"Hello boys. You seem to be dirtying my street." 

Sun recognized the voice through the distress hazing his brain. All he could manage was a small dark smile through the gasps of breath. Neptune would probably end up killing him, but at least he would kill the men who just tortured him too. 

"Bullshit, this has always been White Fang terri-" The sentence cut off with a sickening gargling sound. Blood splattered the pavement in front of Sun.

It was difficult to tell what happened after that. The niceties had passed and now only 'business' between the two gangs remained. Sun couldn't bring himself to care about what happened behind him... The clashing of steel, a gun shot, the thump of a body against hard stone. For the moment he was too preoccupied fighting down vomit.   

Grey shoes came into view and Sun lifted his head to look his savior in the eyes. They stared in silence for a minute, Sun's back heaving with the effort it took to suck in air and Neptune's head tilted ever so slightly. The gang boss holstered his gun and crouched down, resting on his haunches. He reached out and brought his hand under Sun's chin, gently, tilting his head to the side. Sun had flinched at the touch, but found himself relaxing into it when no harm was inflicted.  

After Neptune got a look at the thief's black eye and busted nose he looked back into grey eyes. 

"Come with me and I'll fix you up." Neptune stood, extending a hand for the thief.

Sun only hesitated for a second. He'd already been through hell tonight. He doubted it could get much worse. Neptune shifted to allow Sun easier access to lean against him and brought an arm around the shorter man's waist to steady him.

As they passed what Sun now knew to be a member of White Fang, Neptune halted and kicked him to get his attention. The man on the ground peaked open a bleary eye.

"I kept you alive for one reason. This man is now under my protection," Neptune stepped on the thugs broken fingers, a parallel to the faunus' tail, "Relay that to your boss." 

The two continued the rest of the way to the black car Sun assumed belonged to Neptune. He was helped into the back and Neptune got in on the other side, sharing the backseat with him. He gave the driver a command and they sped off into the city. Leaving three corpses and a broken body behind.

Sun struggled to keep his eyes open during the ride to Titans' base. After everything that's happened tonight, the drinking, the blood loss, the torture... It was a miracle Sun hadn't passed out already. It was a close thing in the car. Sun caught himself slumping forward, brain desperately trying to shut the body down and start conserving energy. If it weren't for Neptune's touch there'd be nothing keeping him grounded to the waking world.

After the car had started moving Neptune removed Sun's ripped and bloody shirt, careful of his cuts, and tore it into strips. He then tied them around the two deep cuts on Sun's arm, doubling up the fabric. It had stung, but the pain felt far away. That probably wasn't a good sign. Neptune bunched up the rest of the shirt and pressed it to as much of the slash down the faunus' back as he could. Sun knew the pressure was necessary but goddamn it was uncomfortable. It helped if he focused on the warm hand resting against his stomach instead.

The thief almost felt bad about the blood dripping onto the seat. Maybe he should say something? Sun hoped his mouth worked properly and the words formed a logical sentence. 

"Sorry for the blood. On your seats," Sun eyed the blood on Neptune as well and wondered if it was his or the men the gang leader had just killed, "And on you, if it's mine."

"Don't worry about it, the leather is easy to clean. Plus worse things than blood have stained them."

Sun didn't think too hard about that.

When the car pulled up to Titans' base Neptune helped him out of the back and through the front door, the main room devoid of any gang members. The man lead Sun to an old service elevator that looked like it barely ran and used a key to start it up, punching in the top floor. Sun propped himself half against the stained metal wall and half against Neptune, who didn't seem to mind. 

Sun felt himself teetering on the edge of unconsciousness again. He wasn't sure if it was the blood loss or lack of shirt or both, but he was cold and the body next to his was so warm. He leaned ever so slightly further into the man and let out a sigh through his nose. He knew it was dumb as hell to be so relaxed around this dangerous man. He barely knew him. Their first meeting Neptune had his hand around Sun's throat for fuck's sake. He was a murderer, taking Gods knows how many lives without remorse.  _'But he killed the men tonight for you. To protect you.'_  A voice in his head pointed out.

It was true. Kind of. Maybe Sun just happened to be the poor victim caught in a gang attack and a rival gang happened to be there to kill the trespassers.  _'But he took me back to his hideout to fix me up. There's no way he'd do that for any random citizen.'_ It was confusing and Sun wasn't in the mood to struggle to keep up a strong train of thought.

His head had fallen almost to Neptune's shoulder when he felt fingers softly thread through his hair. He hummed at the contact.

"Stay with me a little longer. We're almost to my room." Funny how the man told him to 'stay with him' when the movement of his hand caused Sun to fall further over the line into sleep.

"It's cold," Sun slurred. He wasn't one hundred percent positive he had full control of his mouth anymore. Not that it was ever a controlled thing on a normal day.

"I know," Neptune could feel the tremors under Sun's skin through his clothing, "My room will be warmer. Come with me."

Sun blindly followed the man out of the elevator, through a hallway, and into the room he recognized from his first trip into the warehouse. Neptune lead him over to the bed in the corner, the one he had been cuffed too, and sat him down. He rummaged around in the desk for a minute before returning with a red kit of some kind, dragging the desk chair with him. Neptune removed his jacket and placed it on the back of the chair before perching directly in front of Sun. He didn't see where Neptune got the damp cloth before it was placed in his hand.

"Can you clean your face up on your own?"

"Don't be stupid," Sun snapped. He started working away on the drying blood covering his face. The man across from his just rolled his eyes, removing a needle and small bottles from the bag.

"I'm going to put some numbing solution on the cuts, but this won't be pleasant. Do you trust me?"

Sun nodded his head. He was so tired he doubted he'd even feel the needle enter his skin. Even so, he trusted Neptune.

With the show of confirmation, Neptune got working; donning surgical gloves and unscrewing one of the bottles. He worked on the two deep cuts on Sun's arm first, spraying some kind of liquid on it before pouring a substance that turned Sun's skin red-orange directly in the cuts. After rubbing that around the area he took out a threaded needle and got to stitching up the gashes. 

"I didn't peg you for the medical type." Sun flinched at the feeling of the needle tugging at his skin. He was right, it didn't hurt; but the pressure was still strange.

"I didn't peg you for the careless type."  _  
_

"I was on my way to get coffee, how was I suppose to know White Fang goons would attack me?"

"You expect me to believe you know nothing about the bounty placed on rogue semblance users? And even if you didn't, you used your semblance in front of my whole gang. What would you call that?"

"I didn't even know I had a fucking stupid semblance until it was tearing those pieces of shit apart," Sun raised his free arm to cover a yawn. "If it weren't for  _your_ careless ass I'd have never been in this mess."

Neptune finished off suturing the deeper of the two cuts on Sun's arm, then switched to a clean needle and started on the second. 

"How is it you're just now finding out about having a semblance?"

"I dunno. Maybe something activated it?" It was a passing thought that Sun mulled over in his mind before and seemed like the only logical reason.

"I wonder would could have caused it..." 

"Don't get so full of yourself."

"What's your name anyway? Mouth?"

"Sun. But you were close." The faunus resisted the urge to stretch, knowing it'd irritate his stitches. He decided now would be a good time to check his tail over for broken bones.

Sun slowly inched his tail around his body. Any movement caused flashes of pain to shoot up the length of the appendage, but if he moved it a little at a time it was bearable. Bruises and welts made up most of the damage done but near the end a kink ran jagged. Sun gritted his teeth at what he new he had to do. If he didn't set his tail now it'd just be worse later. 

Neptune had finished the second cut and had wrapped the thief's arm with clean bandage. 

"You'll need a splint and a wrap before you set that break. Let me sew up your last cut and I'll take care of it." 

"I've done it before, I can do it again. Just hand me the things and this will go faster."

"With the mental state you're in? You're seconds from passing out. Lean toward me." Neptune pulled the faunus' shoulders toward until he was easily able to get to the laceration running parallel to Sun's spine, arms on either side of the blond head.

Sun blinked and suddenly found himself halfway in Neptune's lap, face inches away from the man's neck as he tugged away at the skin on his shoulder. For the first time since they set foot in the building Sun felt warm again. Neptune wouldn't mind if he leaned into him completely right... After all the personal space boundaries that've been crossed tonight, what would one more matter? 

Sun threw the last fuck he had in the metaphorical fire and leaned the rest of the way into the man. The thief didn't even try to keep is eyes open as he pressed his face into the crook of Neptune's neck, breathing deepening. The body against his didn't tense or move away; good thing too. Sun was not getting up. Blue eyes caught the small single twitch of his tail. 

The gang leader bandaged the last wound before stirring the thief. Sun let out an annoyed grunt at being pulled from his not-quiet-sleep. 

"I'm done, I just need to set your tail now." Neptune untangled himself from the faunus, hooded grey eyes glaring up at him with as much intensity the faunus could muster. 

Sun's tail was snapped into place so quickly the pain almost eluded him completely. Before he knew it the break was splintered and wrapped snuggly in white bandages. Sun reached out to loosely grab Neptune's arm before he could get too far away.  _'The cold is back.'_

"Stay..." Sun didn't need to finish the sentence. He knew Neptune would get what he meant.

A moment passed where Sun held his breathe before the man in front of him agreed. Neptune set the bag of medical supplies, clean and used, on his desk before switching off the room light. It wasn't completely dark, the lights from the city seeping in through the fixed glass. Neptune kicked off his shoes and loosened his tie, pulling it over his head and tossing it on the chair. His white shirt following a minute later.

Sun waited until Neptune settled before crawling in after him, careful not to pull too much at his new stitches. Sun, finally, fell into unconsciousness; wrapped up in the arms of a man who he owed his life. If Sun dreamt, he wouldn't remember it in the morning. 

\- - - 

A smile split Yang's face before she even opened her eyes. 

Her date wasn't for another four hours but she rushed through her morning routine regardless. Picking out the perfect outfit took the longest. What would Blake like most? Something dark, or did she just like that color scheme for herself? Maybe she'd be lured in by something bright? Opposites attract and all that. Yang settled on something in-between. 

After pulling on the last article of clothing, a creme colored jacket, Yang went out to start breakfast for Ruby. 

"Hey little sis, you're up early."

Ye-ah," A yawn stretched the word, "Penny wanted to go check out the new arcade that opened on 7th last week." 

"Okay, have fun! Should I make pancakes for her too?"

"Sure! If she won't eat them I will. Are you making them chocolate chip?"

"Anything for you sis." Yang closed her sisters jaw, "You're drooling."

Yang slipped on an apron, so as not to dirty her outfit, and got to cooking. Penny showed up halfway through, ecstatic to hear she would be treated to breakfast. 

Ruby had met the girl at school last year. Apparently Ruby was rushing to class and ran head first into the redhead as she turned a corner. They had clashed so violently they both had to take a trip to the nurse, just so the woman could make sure no serious damage had been done. After getting the all clear the girl walked Ruby to class, having felt bad for causing her trouble. Ever since then the two had been friends and hung out almost every weekend. Yang had to admit, the first time she met Penny she was a little put off. The girl got excited by every little thing, like she was an alien new to this planet, or a robot. But who was Yang to judge? Ruby was happy and that's all that mattered.

The girls were still in the apartment when Yang left for the little cafe. She gave Ruby a kiss on the head, to her sister's annoyance ( _"Not in front of my friends_   _Yang!"_ ), and returned the goodbye as she left. It was barely 12:30 and would only take fifteen minutes to get there, but Yang wanted to be a little early. 

Turns out Blake had the same plan, the woman was standing outside the cafe as Yang pulled up on her motorcycle. 

"Hey," Yang greeted as she removed her helmet, "You're here early."

"As are you," Blake gave a smile in greeting, "I wanted to get us a table just in case, this place can get crowded."

"You come here often?" Yang resisted the urge to slap herself in the face. It was a total coincidence, but even accidentally using a cheesy pickup line like that was inexcusable. "I mean, you've been here before, more than once?"  _  
_

"Yes, I've been here many times," to Yang's relief it looked like Blake was amused by her dumb slip ups, "This place isn't exactly what it seems."

"What do you mean?" Yang followed Blake inside. The faunus was right, the place was packed full of people. The pair wound their way through tables until they got to one of the few empty ones left and settled in.

"This place is used as a cover. How familiar are you with the criminal population of this city?"

"Pretty damn familiar," Yang shrugged, "I have a few connections outside my own work place."

"Have you heard of Pyrrha Nikos?"

It took a minute for Yang to place the name. "Yeah, she hires out muscle right?"

"Mhmm,  _they_  also own this cafe. Jaune Arc, the best informant in this city, 'works' here as well under their supervision." 

Yang nodded to show her understanding at the hint and looked around at the pastel colored cafe. The place was as inconspicuous as Beacon. 

"So does everyone who works here live a double life?"

"Mmm, no not exactly. It's mostly just Nikos and Arc. You see the guy behind the counter?" Blake tilted her head toward a blond man with glasses who was currently taking a woman's order, "He's just a regular guy who Pyrrha hired to keep things looking as 'normal' as possible. It helps to have buffers." 

"Yeah, it does." Yang looked back at her date, "I'll get us coffees, what would you like?" Yang got up after getting Blake's order, a mocha latte with carmel drizzle, and headed to the counter. It was a short wait, everyone else having already been served save the two people in front of her. 

"Welcome to Sanctum Cafe. My name is David, what can I get you girls this afternoon?" 

Yang ordered the drink for Blake and requested a strawberry frappe for herself. She paid and stood off to the side while the man made them. The assassin took this time to look around the cafe, seeing if she could pick up anything that might make Beacon even more 'normal'. Not that it needed to be, Ozpin and Glynda kept the place perfectly discreet; but a few new tips wouldn't hurt. 

A polite "Your order miss." pulled Yang from her scan of the room. She flashed a smile and thanked the man then returned to Blake with their coffees.

"So how'd you find out about this place anyway?" Yang asked before taking a sip of her drink. It was wonderful.

"Well, I don't work for or with a certain group, I'm a free-lance thief. I make my way through life picking up jobs wherever I can get them, but since I'm pretty much nameless work doesn't find me easily. I knew I had to make connections in the underground or else I'd barely scrape by, so I did some research and found out about Jaune." Blake's eyes flickered over to the counter again. When Yang followed them she saw a new man occupying an open space on the shiny metal. He was leaned close to the barista who took her order, talking about something that looked important. 

"Soon after finding out about Jaune I learned of Pyrrha. The two are a packaged deal, you can't get close to one without getting close to the other. Not that it was an issue. Pyrrha's a really cool person, they've helped me out of more than one tight situation in the past."

"Are they here today? I'd love to meet them."

Blake called out to Jaune who turned to pinpoint where his name came from. At seeing Blake he smiled and excused himself from the conversation he was having with the barista.

"Hey Blake! Who's you're friend?"

"This is Yang,"

"Hello!"

"She's the one who cost me my last job." Yang's expression turned sheepish.

"Noble of you to forgive so easily Blake," Jaune joked.

"She's easy to forgive..." Blake shot Yang a small smile before taking a drink of her coffee. "Is Pyrrha here? Yang would like to met them."

"No sorry, Pyrrha went to visit Nora and Ren. Make sure everything was going well."

"So you're all alone caring for the shop? How's that going?" Blake asked.

"Eh, it's not so hard. David's the only one working today and he has everything under control. He's great with he customers."

"Unlike someone..."

"Hey! I try my best!" The girls laughed lightheartedly at Jaune's exaggerated expression. 

"I better get back to 'supervising', It was nice meeting you Yang," Jaune leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Blake really likes you, I can tell." With that the man turned on his heel and retook his place behind the counter. Blake giving a slightly irritated stare to his back.

"He's nice. We'll have to come by again when Pyrrha's here."

"Was that you asking me on another date?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Yes? If you'd like that... We could see a movie and go out for dinner after?"

"I'd love to." Blake reached under the table to hold Yang's hand. The women finished their drinks in comfortable silence.

\- - - 

Sun woke up very sore. He stretched, having forgotten momentarily about his stitches, but stopped immediately when he felt them pull. He knew it would have hurt if his brain were awake enough to register pain. After a quick look around the room Sun knew exactly where he was. He remembered everything that happened before he feel asleep... He just wasn't sure how long ago that was. The bed and room were vacant, save him. 

Light filtered in through the open window, but it was weak. Late afternoon maybe; or it could be early morning, but wouldn't Neptune be here with him if that were the case? Sun weighed his options. He could either pull himself out of the warm comfortable bed and go looking for a man who might not even be in the building, or, he could lay back down and fall asleep to the still lingering smell of Neptune. He'd already made the obvious choice, but sadly, it wasn't meant to be. 

_'I really have to pee.'_

His body protested the move out of bed. His legs felt weak and he was always aware of the constant tug of sutures in his skin. His muscles ached and, from what he could see on his bare chest and arms, he was littered in bruises. It wasn't surprising. Sun got a hold on the now prominent pain, tucking it in the back of his mind as best he could, and made his way to the door. Surprisingly, the hall outside Neptune's room wasn't completely abandoned. Sun was starting to wonder if all the hoodlums worked nine to five shifts and went home to loving families at the end of the day. 

People bustled around the hall going to one room or another or disappearing behind corners. Sun recognized the green haired guy from before, who seemed to act as Neptune's right hand man, and stopped him as he walked passed.

"Heeeey, friend..." Sun paused a moment, waiting for a name that never came, "Uh, so where's the bathroom in this place?"

"Down the hall that way," The man motioned with his thumb, "take a right and it's the second door on the right."

"Thanks buddy. So what's your name? Kinda weird to be introduced now, but..." Sun ended in a shrug.

"Sage."

"I'm Sun, I'll see you around I guess-"

"Wait," Sage cut him off, "I just want to say thank you, for what you did the other day. We wouldn't have our leader if you didn't put your ass on the line."

"Oh uh, yeah, no problem." Sun raised his injured arm to rub the back of his neck, one of his go-to nervous ticks, but halted the action when stinging pain shot up his limb. He was never going to get use to having stitches. 

Sun nodded an awkward goodbye and headed to the bathroom. Looks like the small relief from his received ass-kicking was over. A massive headache could be felt in it's beginning stages, the incessant pounding wearing away at him already. The ache from when he first woke up was fuck-all compared to the anthem his nerves were screaming now. He couldn't wait to finish his business here and crawl back into Neptune's heavenly bed; hopefully he'd fall asleep fast to escape this hell. 

After relieving himself Sun made it halfway back to the room before running into just the guy he hoped to see. He wondered if Sage had run off to report that the thief was running around.  

"You're finally awake, how are you feeling?"

"Like shit honestly." The pounding in his head was only getting worse and it was starting to fuck with his vision. Sun's never had a migraine before but he'd bet good money that that's exactly what was assaulting his head right now.

"You look like it, luckily I have something to help."

Neptune lead Sun the rest of the way back to his room. When the thief was perched on the edge of the bed Neptune passed two round yellow pills into his hand. 

"What are these?"

"OxyContin, or you might know it as oxycotton on the streets." Neptune brought over a glass of water, "And drink all of this. I should have made you drink something last night but you needed sleep more."

"Well, poison doesn't seem your style," Sun looked at the small pills in his palm, "I trust you." Sun popped the pills in his mouth and took the water, gulping down the whole glass in one go.  

"There isn't enough there to overdoes on, and I wouldn't kill you after spending all that time helping you." 

"Why did you help me anyway? I broke in your room and tried stealing your precious weapon. First you have your hands around my throat and next they're sewing me together. It doesn't add up."

"You saved my life," Neptune took a seat on the bed, "I felt like I owed you, so I returned the favor."

"So now that that's over and done with, what? We part ways as unlikely friends, never to see each other again?" 

"Hm, not if I have any say. I want to keep you around. Plus, I don't make a habit of letting  _friends_  stay in my bed, especially when they wrap themselves so tightly around me I can't breathe."

"Piss off, I was just really out of it. It's not my fault you keep his place fucking freezing at night."

"Right," Neptune laughed, "And I'm sure the things you said was because you were still drunk? You talk in your sleep dude."

Sun felt his face heat up as he side-eyed Neptune. He was about to defend anything his dreaming mind might have come up with when something hit his brain, distorting his thoughts. It was like one minute everything was normal, save the constant burning of his body, then it felt like something clicked in his head and suddenly the room had shifted; he felt like he was floating. 

"Whoa..." Sun blinked rapidly and looked around the room, which seemed to pan across his vision with a lag. His body felt like it wasn't connected to his head anymore and suddenly the lights were brighter, but they didn't agonize his senses like he would have expected. The migraine was completely gone, along with the aches of his muscles and stinging of his lacerations. He'd heard of these miracles packed as little pills but he'd never experienced them first hand before now.

"I'm guessing the pills kicked in. Look at me," Neptune requested.

Sun turned his head and giggled at the dizzy feeling it gave him. Neptune studied the faunus' eyes, his pupils were blown wide in relaxed elation, almost covering the silver of his irises completely.

"How's the pain now?"  

"Much, much better, I barely feel anything." Sun's mouth divided his face in a grin, displaying his longer than normal canines. "So how often do I get these?"

"Every four hours or so, and not for longer than a week. I'm not getting you addicted to pills." 

"But, what if I still hurt?!" 

Neptune gave him a look. "You'll switch over to tylenol after a week. Trust me you'll be fine."

Sun sighed. "Fine," A yawn erupted from him, "You act like you're my mom or something." Even though the faunus had just woken up he begun to feel the tug of sleep pulling him back. 

"Go to sleep, I'm staying in base for the night"

"Mm not tired," Sun said as he rested his head on Neptune's shoulder.

"You need to rest. You want to get better as soon as possible right?" Neptune's fingers found their place in soft blond hair.

"I just got up. I'm not staying in bed all day."

Neptune sighed, "What if I stayed with you, at least until you fell asleep? You can't fight the drugs forever."

"This week is gonna suck if I'll be asleep through all of it." 

"You'll get use to the side effects after a couple days of use." Neptune propped himself against the wall behind them; Sun flopped over and laid his head in his lap. 

"You know I can't stay here the full week right?" Sun adjusted to look up at Neptune, "I gotta get back to my group." Sun could feel himself quickly slipping into a peaceful daze under the effects of the drug and the hand blissfully raking through his hair.

"I know," Neptune's other hand came up and tilted Sun's head, "I'm just going to make sure you're okay before I let you leave. And make sure White Fang doesn't come after you again..." Neptune's eyes flashed with something Sun couldn't pin down, which was weird because usually Sun had no problem reading people. It must have to do with being high, he's sure. 

Neptune leaned down and Sun's eyes went from relaxed slits to open wide with surprise when he felt the man's lips on his. The surprise quickly disappeared and he eagerly opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. It was a little awkward from this position, but Sun wouldn't let that stop them. The faunus clumsily buried his own hand in Neptune's hair, glad the goggles weren't on to hinder him, and pulled the man closer. Sun reveled the feel of Neptune's tongue moving against his, the muscle occasionally darting out to lick his bottom lip; following the puncture wounds Sun's teeth caused only the night before.

Sun tore himself away to change positions. Things would be much easier if he weren't laying down. After a moment the faunus was straddling Neptune's hips, having moved faster than he thought he could in this state; the sudden change making him lightheaded, but the dizziness didn't keep him from going right back to kissing Neptune. Sitting like this made for a much better angle. Sun felt one hand settle on his hip and the other move to the back of his head, gripping his hair. Neptune pulled just hard enough to bend Sun's head back, then he tipped down to suck a mark into his neck.

"Nep..." Sun's breathing was shallow and erratic. The faunus spread his hands over Neptune's chest. He found the jacket's zipper and followed it down, pushing it off the man's shoulders. He couldn't get it off very far due to Neptune's arms being occupied with roaming his body, and he didn't want it to stop, so he moved on to Neptune's shirt. One hand slipped under the white button up and the other worked to undo the buttons. The muscles under his finger tips were hard and hot and Sun couldn't wait to run his hands over every inch on tan skin- Except his actions were halted before he even got the first button undone.

"Sun," Neptune flipped Sun so he lay flat against the covers, pinning his arms to the bed with his hands, "I'm not going past this right now." His head ducked back down to finish the mark he started. 

"But-" Whatever Sun was about to say was cut off in a low groan when he felt teeth press against his skin. Sun knew Neptune was trying to leave the biggest, darkest mark he could; the bastard. Not that Sun minded in the least right now. 

"Neptune," Sun repositioned his lower half so his dick was pressed into the man's leg, "please."

The hand on his hip tightened it's hold. "I'm not fucking you while you're drugged and inured Sun."

"Okay but how about we just help each other out a little then?"

"Sun..." Even with Sun breaking out his best puppy dog eyes Neptune's expression stayed firm, "You need to  _rest_." Neptune gave him one last lingering kiss before releasing his arms and rising up on his knees. 

"I'm not going to be able to sleep  _now_." Sun made a vague motion to the tent in his jeans.

"Yes you will."

"I'll really masturbate in your bed. Whether you stay or not."

"I guess I'll leave then and give you some privacy. Here," Neptune shrugged off his jacket and dropped it on Sun, "Something to remember me by."

"...You're such a prick."

"I've been called worse." Neptune headed to the door and clutched the knob, looking over his shoulder at the faunus, "Seriously, stop fighting the meds and get some sleep." And with the click of the door, after a certain finger was flipped, Sun was alone once again.

 _'Stupid asshole with his fucking stupid attitude and dumb jacket. What the fuck.'_  He guesses he was grateful Neptune left... He really was tired and sleep sounded great. But he couldn't sleep with his dick pressing uncomfortably against the inside of his jeans. If only Neptune had at least gotten him off before he left. He would have returned the favor! If he were awake enough to after a good orgasm that is. 

Sun clutched the jacket laying on his torso. What the hell did he even mean 'something to remember him by'? Maybe Neptune was aware of the connections faunus had with scent... Of course most people had a connection to scent, but for faunus it was magnified ten fold compared to humans. Having a superior sense of smell awoke things within faunus at the most primal level; Strong emotions could be stirred from scent connections, like the smell of a mother's homemade stew, as something shared for both humans and faunus, or, more in tune to Sun's case, even the faintest aroma of a lover. 

Neptune's natural human smell dripped from the item; strong, to Sun's nose, under the crisp cologne. The faunus threw the article of clothing to the side with a sigh of frustration where it hit the wall with a dull thud and landed in a pile on the bed. Almost without consciously thinking about it Sun ran a hand down his abdomen, finger tips ghosting over well toned muscles. He did warn Neptune he'd jerk it, and he was pretty sure the guy knew he wasn't kidding if the temporary gift (and implication behind it) was anything to go by.

Fingers found the buckle of his belt and worked quickly to undo it. He wiggled his jeans down as far as they would go without him having to sit up, bunching not uncomfortably around his thighs. The thief rubbed himself through the fabric of his boxers, enjoying the friction and already half-hard. His eyes slid shut as fictive images flickered in his mind. He settled on a particularly nice scenario and his hand slipped under the elastic waistband. 

A projection of Sun on his knees, cock full and bobbing between his legs, flashed in his minds eye. His hand formed a lose fist around his shaft in the real world as the vision played out, slowly pumping in a good starting rhythm. In his head Neptune stood before him, the man's own arousal obvious in his pants. Sun unzipped the jeans and met Neptune's eyes, licking at his rock hard dick from outside the silky material of his boxers. Neptune sucked in air through his parted lips, burying a hand in Sun's hair as he watched. Sun's physical fist tightened as his mental self pulled down Neptune's boxers, freeing his cock. 

When Sun imagined the first real taste of the gang leader he moved his fingers right below the head of his dick, pumping his foreskin in time with the speed he sucked him off in his daydream. 

The familiar pool of heat started to pool under his skin. He swiped the pad of his thumb over the darkening head of his dick as he imagined the sound Neptune would make when he got half his cock enveloped in Sun's hot mouth. Sun had to bite his lip to stop a moan from slipping out when he imagined what Neptune's face would look like when he took all of him down his throat; hissing at the pain his teeth caused against the already wounded skin there.  

The pumping of his hand grew faster as his imaginary head bobbed along the rock-hard erection. Neptune's hand would add more pressure when Sun massaged the underside of his dick with his tongue, pushing Sun's head slightly closer and giving him less room to pull back. Neptune was close, he could tell by his deep moans and erratic breathing. In the real world Sun was close too, precum already starting to leak from the head.

Sun knew he would only last a few more seconds. He also knew he wouldn't be able to stop the moan that was building in his chest. The thief grabbed the previously discarded jacket, bunching it haphazardly in his free hand. When Sun felt himself teetering on the edge of cumming he covered his mouth with the material, the thought of Neptune losing control and holding Sun's head down to cum down his throat sending him over. Sun orgasmed loud and hard, white liquid shooting in thick ropes over his abs. The jacket had worked to muffle his moan somewhat; hopefully enough to hide it from anyone that might have been outside the door.

He breathed heavily into the clothing as he came down from one of his current highs, trying to set his mind back in reality. Sun opened his eyes and looked at the mess over his hand and stomach. He was way to exhausted to deal with this right now. He didn't even see anything around that would work to wipe himself off. He entertained the idea of dirtying Neptune's jacket as revenge but discarded it. He was almost positive the man would actually slit his throat if he ruined it. Sun shrugged and grabbed the edge of the sheet, pulling it over and using it as a rag to clean himself. Neptune would probably be pissed at that too, but hey, it was better than his jacket, and Sun couldn't bring himself to care.

Once the mess was taken care of Sun tucked himself back into his boxers and kicked his jeans the rest of the way off; it was way too uncomfortable to sleep with them on two nights in a row. He sluggishly crawled under the covers and wrapped himself in Neptune's jacket. A violent yawn racked his body as Sun's eyes closed, the black void claiming him almost instantly.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for part two! Because of classes I have no idea when it'll be finished. Please be patient, college is the worst... I'll put up a couple chapters of Dollhouse in the mean time, for all of you who have been waiting for that to update.


End file.
